Redemption
by Daggers.Silver
Summary: Post-Canon. Sasuke can't function without a goal, so now that his have been taken from him and the Fourth Shinobi War has come to a close, he just might find one in the form of a certain pink-haired kunoichi. SasuSaku. This might deviate from canon a bit since I thought Sasuke got off the hook way too easily.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey guys! Nice to see you again! So this is my first Naruto fic and my first attempt at writing on my freaking iPod. XD I plan for it to be a multi chapter fic, but I'm not sure if it will have a thick plot. As far as I know, it's going to follow Sakura and Sasuke post-canon and expound on recovery and their relationship. I got this idea because I went on a SasuSaku spree and so many of them are more often than not a very possessive and selfishly loving Sasuke. I wanted to touch on his redemption /and/ his lack of social skills. He never really gave himself time to develope as a person since he was consumed by the need for revenge, even after Itachi was killed. So this will be considering that lack of development and will make for some cute and awkward Sasuke. I'm trying to write him realistically as still a stiff prickly Uchiha, but also striving to redeem himself.**

 **This will be Post-Canon so it will have spoilers for the manga/show.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, all rights go to Kishimto, yadayada.**

 **Enjoy the prologue!**

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Prologue

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He didn't know how it happened. One day, she was Sakura, idiot control, there for Naruto whenever he went too far, there for Sai whenever he said something wrong, the young and pink kunoichi who grew from an insecure little girl to the strongest shinobi in the Land of Fire underneath the Fifth Hokage. The next, she was... different. He noticed the way the sun caught her eyes, gold mingling with green and sparkling with a vibrance that he had never seen (or noticed) before. Her smile, when watching Sai and Naruto bicker, or her Sensei patronize them both, her head tilted back and teeth showing. He never recalled seeing her so _alive._

The Sakura he knew still ducked under his gaze, flinched at his remarks, chased after him, eyes red rimmed and always leaking tears. The desperate little girl who was _so annoying._

Now all he could see was a cherry blossom in full bloom. Stalk strong from weathering storm after storm, petals large and full and always catching the sun. He saw a young woman carrying confidence with each step. Her head always held high, but never so high that she had to look down on those around her.

But then he would walk by. Step in her blind spot. Catch her eye from afar. Those bright emerald eyes would flicker, her high head would flinch, those sharp fists would go slack as they itched for a kunai, that straight spine would bend ever so slightly in the beginnings of a defensive stance. He was an eclipse, the moon blocking the sun from her view.

And he _hated_ it. He didn't know why he cared. He didn't used to, and he didn't remember when he started to. He didn't want to care. But Team 7 had somehow already sunk its teeth in when he wasn't looking. And now he didn't know which would hurt worse; leaving them in or working them out.

The dobe still stood at her side, sheltering her flame whenever it flickered. His dreams were somehow still in tact and he still paved his own way forward, never stopping to look back but always making sure his comrades were at his side. If one of them tripped, if one of them wasn't strong enough to keep up, he would carry them on his back.

The deathly pale idiot always showed up and didn't look like he had any plans to leave. He followed behind Naruto and Sakura with an unwavering (but still sometimes annoying) loyalty. As the first month since Sasuke's return crawled by, Sai's smiles, his compliments, slowly but surely got more and more genuine.

Kakashi, the backdrop behind the rest of Team 7, the ground beneath their feet, the hand on their shoulder. He had walked in a straight line behind them, trying (and sometimes failing) to keep them all on the straight and narrow.

Then there was Sakura. The beginnings of a road were starting to grow ahead of her. She was finally able to catch up to them, to pick up the scattered pieces of herself and put them back together by sheer force of will. She was paving her own trail, her own future that was shaping to be brighter than the past.

And he was the man on the sidelines. Meeting her gaze and making her falter, her vision blur, her future dim. A flash of memory accompanied by shadow, a reminder of past mistakes, of an uncertain future and of an unstable present. He shook her foundation, however briefly, and made her question herself, her ideas, her resolve.

All his life, he tore down. Disregarded support. His treatment of others always depended on how valuable an asset they were to him. Darkness not only covered him, but he beckoned to it, clung to it like the pathetic child he was. Any light that dared to shine in his presence, he made sure to snuff it out.

But now that darkness was taken from him. Drowned out by a light that cleared his head but also stripped him of his ambitions. He was aimless. Useless. A far too overused weapon no longer needed in combat. His future was dark, but this time with uncertainty. He needed a goal to pull him forward or the light would become to much for his shade to handle and drown him. He _needed_ a goal to survive.

When he looked at Team 7, he felt a tug within his soul. A hand reaching out for him to take. Encouraging him to use his hands to build up. To accept support and to support others in return. To treat others as important, not tools at his disposal. To treat them like the humans they were, not to manipulate them for power, or throw them aside as worthless. To help clear the path for his friends, for Sakura, the path he had previously clouded and had set stumbling blocks on. The hand offered to him promised a new goal, a purpose. A reason to live another day.

Redemption.

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 **A/N: Tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 1: Distance

**A/N: I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with this, but I tried. I have to apologize because this fic will start out slow since Sakura is still wary. But don't worry. Sasuke is dogged when he wants something. ;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, it would either be MUCH better... or a pile of word-vomit and the worst thing you have ever read.**

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Chapter 1: Distance

 _i never meant to wither_

000

Haruno Sakura loved helping people. She _did_. It gave her a feeling of fulfillment, even if the only payment was a smile. But today was shaping out to be, for lack of a better word, a drag. A dull ache had long since wormed its way into her skull and her eyelids continued to droop with each sentence she read. Paperwork would soon become her arch nemesis at this rate. But Lady Tsunade needed the help; her resignation was right around the corner and she wanted to tie all loose ends concerning her term. And among those loose ends was every scrap of paper she had failed to stamp, sign or otherwise approve or organize.

And so Sakura sat, reading through each file and piling the papers she had stamped with Tsunade's seal, separating those from the ones that she found questionable or just had no freaking clue. But if she didn't do it, some other poor soul would be left to this hell.

Besides, Tsunade needed the help. For the past month, she'd been splitting hairs over a certain ex-nukenin and said ex-nukenin's punishment. Sakura knew that if it was up to Lady Tsunade alone, the process wouldn't be this complicated. But as it was, there was a newborn alliance to consider, to tiptoe around. Each Kage had an opinion on the matter (except for maybe the Kazekage) concerning the nukenin that had caused multiple problems for all of them. The only reason Tsunade had such an edge was because the Uchiha was also an ex- _Leaf_ shinobi. But the fact still remained that Sasuke had not only betrayed the Leaf Village and sought its destruction, but was also an enemy to all villages as long as they got in the way of his goals.

Sakura wasn't sure how she felt about the decline of a trial. While she agreed; what's the point, all of them knew he was guilty, she also didn't like the way the Uchiha just went along with _everything._ It made her suspicious. Like he still had a trick up his sleeve, an ulterior motive. It made her uneasy.

The weak two-tapped knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts, her neck popping from the speed in which she lifted her head to look at it. Something wet slid down her chin and she quickly swiped it away, horrified at the thought that she may have been _drooling_ on her shishou's paperwork. Had she really been falling asleep?

Shaking the fog from her mind, she ran a hand down her face once more before calling a terse 'come in'.

The door creaked open to reveal too dark hair and mismatching eyes that seemed to see into her very soul in once glance. For a moment, all she could see was flashing lights, blue crackling through the air, a burning in her chest that suddenly had an arm slicing through it. Despite knowing that ANBU agents were stationed in every corner of the Hokage Tower, that Sasuke had returned willingly to them, that he wasn't allowed to carry an weapons, that his chakra was sealed until the punishment was decided, she found herself stiffening and reaching for her kunai sheath. But she stopped herself when he took a step forward, face blank as he stared at the table in front of her and then slowly lifted his gaze to meet her's.

"Sasuke," she managed, taking a subtle deep breath to calm her nerves and slow her heart. His head tilted ever so slightly to the side a second before he nodded back in greeting. She swallowed the lump in her throat and straightened her shoulders, forcing a smile to her lips. "What are you doing here?"

He stayed silent for another moment and she once again found herself wondering what was going on inside that head of his.

"It's almost midnight."

Oh. Was it?

"Oh, sorry. I was just finishing up some of Lady Tsunade's..." She faltered before pursing her lips. "What are _you_ doing here, though?"

His eyebrows twitched, but his face remained otherwise passive. Silence filled the room.

Just when she was beginning to think he'd never answer, he shrugged and took a few steps closer. "Did you need any help?"

If not for his noncommittal tone, she would have thought he was actually trying to be helpful, but before she could entertain _that_ idea, she stood to her feet and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. "Actually, I was just going to head home." _Smooth, Sakura,_ she thought as she squirmed into her jacket.

"Right," his voiced floated to her, pausing her movements and making her jaw clench.

"Yeah," she managed, surprising herself at how much cheerfulness she exuded. Making sure her pace was calm and casual, she moved past him and out the door, making her way towards the exit. The silence behind her was almost deafening, but she knew he was following her.

As she reached for the front door's handle, he was suddenly there, beating her to the punch and pulling the door wide open. He moved with it, standing to the side. A sick feeling settled in her stomach, but she forced herself through the opening anyway and turned to watch him close it after himself.

"Are you even aloud to be out this late?" she asked warily, trying to keep her tone exclusively curious.

He shrugged once again. "They don't seem to mind. They just monitor my activity," he stated simply, falling in stride next to her.

The late-night crowds were just starting to gather, pleasant sounds of conversation drifting from the various restaurants and bars that they passed, filling her with warmth and easing her muscles out of their intensity that she hadn't even noticed was there. Out of the corner of her eye, Sasuke watched each civilian and shinobi as they weaved through the street with a surprising amount of focus. She wondered what he was seeing when he looked at them. Mindless cattle? Potential corpses? Useless tools?

"Did you have any dinner?"

She blinked, startled, waiting for his words to register in her mind. Well, maybe she forgot it. There was just _so much paperwork._ It must have slipped her mind.

"I may or may not have forgotten," she bit out nervously, keeping her voice lighthearted. She wasn't actually that hungry.

Something cold suddenly wrapped around her left bicep, soft and callous at the same time, spiking adrenaline through her system. Her body twisted around, right hand coming around to wrench the offending grasp off. Just as her fingers brushed it, it retreated, the grip disappearing but leaving a chill in its wake. A shiver raced down her spine as she locked gazes with her opponent, eyes narrowed and body coiled like a spring. She flinched when soft jade met pitch and pale lavender.

Her thoughts tripped over themselves and heat rushed to her cheeks.

"What the hell, Sasuke?"

Wait. No. She hadn't meant to say that. She meant to say 'What the hell is wrong with me why am I freaking out over nothing?' But that was _definitely_ not what came out over mouth.

Sasuke just stared, face blank and eyes dead. The urge to pound his face in until it showed _something_ made her hands clench into fists. Okay, so maybe she _didn't_ regret what she had said.

"Did you want something to eat, Sakura?"

She took a step back, brain sputtering. So that's it? No apology for giving her a heart attack and making her jump out of her skin? All he had to say was-wait. Did Uchiha Sasuke just ask her if she wanted something to eat?

"Um," she started, body struggling to catch up with her brain. "Sure."

 _WHAT!?_ inner Sakura shrieked. _You're just gonna let him off that easy!?_

 _No, I just_ do _want something to eat,_ she bit back. Oh great. Now she was talking to the voice in her head.

000

The restaurant was small, quaint, and on the outskirts of down. The building looked worn, despite being built not that long ago (due to reconstruction after Pein's attack). The walls were bare aside from a few paintings and the crowd was small and rough around the edges. She couldn't help but notice how tight the kitchen looked, even from the brief glance she got of it. Sasuke ushered her through the mingling (and mildly intoxicated) pool of people to a booth in the corner. She made a mental note of the way he relaxed, his shoulders loosening a fraction once they got to the quieter side of the building.

An older lady with civilian garb asked for their orders; Sakura a small bowl of some sort of broth and Sasuke a glass of water. At the Uchiha's order, the woman narrowed her eyes but scribbled on her notebook anyway and stalked back towards the kitchen.

"Charming," she said after a while, not able to stand the silence between them.

"Donguri-san owns one of the few restaurants that allow me inside," he said, gaze scanning the other tables and their occupants. Sakura raised her eyebrows, shocked but at the same time not really surprised. Sasuke had a long ways to go before the people of Konoha trusted him again.

"She seems... disgruntled," Sakura said carefully. A small snort hopped off her tongue; her wording could have been a little more polite.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth twitched. "Yes. I would be too if I had this crowd every day."

Sakura angled herself to get a quick look at what he was talking about and couldn't stop her grimace. There didn't seem to be a single customer that wasn't wobbling around, drunk, or at the very least filthy as hell. Probably a lot of laborers helping rebuild, so she couldn't be too repulsed, but all of them did look to be overdoing it on the drink.

She huffed a dry laugh. "Is that you on Saturday nights?" she quipped, right before clamping her mouth shut. Why did she say that? Speaking to _Sasuke_ no less? She wanted to be completely civil, give him some slack, but she also couldn't regret the edge of bitterness in her tone.

"Hn," he grunted (wow, Sakura didn't see _that_ coming) and fingered the hem of his black longsleeve. "Not exactly."

She squirmed, not quite sure what that was supposed to mean. There was a hint of bitterness on his words, a change from his constant monotone but not entirely the same bitterness as Sakura's.

Before she could say anything, the woman-Donguri?-returned with a steaming bowl and a glass of water.

"Enjoy," she said, a well-practiced smile wrinkling her already pruney face as she turned and walked away.

The soup was actually pretty good, but the stifled silence that came with it left a bad taste in her mouth. They both finished up quickly and Sasuke herded her around the rowdy crowd once again and back out into the night.

"Thank you," she forced herself to say, still wary as to why they even did that. Sasuke only nodded. She pursed her lips and shifted in place, eying the end of the street in the direction of her house. "Well, goodni-"

"I'll walk you home."

She blinked. "Oh. Uh. Okay."

He hovered uncomfortably close to her as they zigzagged through the streets towards the largest residential area of town, gaze sweeping past every passerby as if searching for something. By the time they made it to her house, her nerves were buzzing with nervous energy and her ears were nearly ringing from the silence.

She fished her keys out of her coat pocket and unlocked her door, stopping to lean on the frame and scrutinize him.

After a beat of silence, she spoke up, eyes narrowed. "What are you doing, Sasuke?"

He flinched, a minuscule movement, but she caught it. His features smoothed back to blank and for once, she could tell that he was actually thinking of a response.

"You said you didn't have dinner. So I bought you dinner."

Oh. Yeah. She'd been so distracted by her own thoughts she hadn't even noticed he had paid for her food.

"Yeah, but..." Her sentence drifted off as she struggled to find a reason for her suspicion. By normal standards, Sasuke hadn't done anything wrong, per se, but... It just wasn't something Sasuke _did_. Sasuke didn't go out of his way to buy her dinner. She'd be lucky if she caught him _alone_ in a public restaurant (aside from Ichiraku's, but Naruto somehow always got them both to eat there). Something was definitely off.

But none of this could she bring herself to say aloud, so instead, she gave a stiff nod and fingered her doorknob. "Goodnight, Sasuke."

He paused, but then bowed low at the waist, face still unreadable. "Goodnight, Sakura."

With that, he turned his back to her and padded off into the night.

She watched him go until she could no longer see him. With a sigh, she closed her door and locked it, kicking off her shoes and shrugging off her coat. She didn't even bother changing her clothes before she dropped onto her bed, stuffing her face into her pillow. She was too tired to think about Sasuke.

000

 **A/N: So, constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome. I haven't written in forever, so grammar, flow and characterization critiques are appreciated! Share your thoughts.**


	3. Chapter 2: Thoughtful

**A/N: Wow guys! 385 views in 24 hours! That's awesome! It makes me so happy! Anyway, here's Chapter 2, from Sasuke's pov. Tell me if I got anything wrong. Sorry it's so short, but that's how it kinda had to be.**

 **Dislaimer: Naruto. Is. Not. Mine. Blarg.**

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Chapter 2: Thoughtful

 _so the storm finally found me_

000

He blinked blearily at his target, hand twitching. Itachi had been able to throw dozens of knives while doing flips, with his eyes closed, and hit every target. And here Sasuke couldn't even throw three in succession and get them to bounce off each other to hit each individual target. What a waste of Uchiha blood. Out of all the Uchiha who could have been the last standing, it was him. Why was it him? Why not Itachi? Why was the one person who deserved to live the most forced to die?

Because Sasuke killed him.

With a growl, he flicked a single kunai at one of the targets, whirling around, not even bothering to see if it hit its mark or to retrieve the weapons. They weren't his anyway; they belonged to the ANBU training facility, a dark and dank cavern but it confined him to a single place and let his guards keep a close eye on him when he decided to pick up a weapon.

His chakra reserves felt bloated, like too much energy was gathering and not enough was expelled. After years of near-daily chakra use, his mind and body itched to fall back into that sync. He wouldn't be surprised if he started having withdrawal symptoms.

Not sparing his guards a glance, he stalked out of the building and into the setting sun, his veins hot with energy thirsting to be released. Shaking his head to rid himself of the persistent thoughts, he turned his mind to other things.

It'd been nearly a week since he first invited Sakura for dinner. Each evening he did the same, if for nothing else then to stop her from overworking herself. Sometimes she accepted, sometimes she declined, but all in all, he was glad he could keep her from drowning in the Hokage's affairs. He was surprised to find himself looking forward to their dinners; he learned something new about her each time. Maybe not in so many words, but he tended to converse better through actions than words anyway.

She tucked her hair behind her ear whenever she felt nervous. She hardly ever put any spices on her food and loved syrup on her dumplings. She walked with a little more spring in her step when a breeze blew. She first looks at peoples' faces when she walks into a room. She kept her head tilted up on sunny days and tended to walk with her gaze straight ahead on cloudy ones. Her eyebrows pinched together whenever she took longer than a few seconds to answer a question. A soft smile lit up her eyes whenever they talked about Team 7 (excluding times when his dynamic in the team was brought up).

He didn't know why he decided to buy her dinner that night. Maybe he never will. But he hated not knowing. But he also now knew that sometimes the mind can't be explained. Or the heart, he's not sure which, but Naruto had taught him that. The number one unpredictable knuckleheaded ninja.

With a sigh, Sasuke allowed the unexplained force to pull him through Konoha's streets towards the Hokage Tower. Despite his anticipation, each day his steps still felt heavy, as if gravity had a personal vendetta against him. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised by now if it did.

A buzzing suddenly came from his right, like a shift in the air currents, grating against his eardrums like fingernails on a chalkboard. On instinct, he flinched to the left just as a dull-colored object flew by his head, missing him by inches. All the passerby's halted their movements to stare, apparently just as confused as he was. Already tense, he twisted around to ready himself for a second attack, only to flinch back a step at the sight before him; a middle-aged woman with messily strung up brunette hair, jaw clenched and trembling, tears escaping the corners of her eyes and trailing down her face in dust-smeared tracks. But what struck him like a chakra-enhanced fist was her eyes. Dull, lifeless, aching. From loss, his mind supplied. Those tears were all she had left.

Her lips pulled back in a sneer, her arm raising with another projectile, another rock.

"Uchiha..." she grit out, blinking furiously. "Those eyes... My daughter is _dead_ because of you, because of those eyes! You and your _damned_ revenge! What about _my_ revenge!? Why can't _I_ avenge my daughter!?" To emphasize her words, she threw the stone at him even as she gathered another. He stifled his instincts and grit his teeth, letting the rough edges of the object dig into his collarbone before bouncing to the dirt. "Why do you get to abandon your village!? Kill innocent people, to satisfy your revenge!? While I have to keep moving forward with a _gravestone_ at my side and live in the same village as the man-with those _damned eyes_ that caused the death of my daughter!? At least answer me _that_ , Uchiha!" She made to throw her fourth rock when figures in porcelain masks shunshin-ed between them, knocking the rock away while trying to placate her.

But Sasuke wasn't listening. His feet carried him away even as his thoughts collapsed on themselves, the woman's lifeless gaze imbedded in his mind's eye. How many people had he rendered without family, widowed, orphaned, childless? How many families had he torn to pieces while trying to avenge his own? How had he been so blind, so ignorant, so _selfish?_ What right did he have to weigh his family above theirs'? To weigh any life over another? How had he _deluded_ himself _that much?_ That pain that he endured, losing his family, that dark pit that swallowed him whole; how many people had he given that same fate in search of his brother's, and then Konoha's, retribution?

"Hey! Sasuke-teme!" He stiffened and whipped his gaze towards the voice, chakra pulsing toward his right eye but not able to manifest itself. It felt like pulling a muscle, like the very fibers in his eye socket were ripping apart. He hissed and dug the heal of his hand into the muscle, scowling at the orange and yellow ball of energy trotting towards him. Said ball of energy grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck as he came to stand beside him. "Heheh. Guess I shouldn't pop up like that, huh?"

Sasuke just scowled harder. "Hn." He slowly eased his hand away from his face, blinking until the last of the sting disappeared. "What do you want, dobe?"

As if he'd just had an epiphany, Naruto's face lit up like a lightbulb. "Oh yeah! We were gonna meet up at that barbaque place when I remembered I hadn't told you about it yet! The whole Rookie 9 are gonna be there, so, you know, you should probably show up." The last half of his sentence went from excited to dry real quick, prompting Sasuke to raise an eyebrow.

"What if I said I didn't like barbaque?" he asked flatly.

"I'd say you're crazy and drag your mopey ass there anyway," the Jinchuuriki grinned, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sasuke sighed and engaged in a silent staring contest with the blond, mind moving sluggishly. He wasn't feeling particularly social today, even more so than usual. Any other time, he would have declined with a 'get lost, dobe' and retreated back to his apartment to train or doze, depending on his mood. But this time... He was _trying_. He was _really_ trying. To make it up to his teammates and fellow shinobi, but it was turning out to be harder than he thought it would.

With another sigh, as if to reiterate his reluctance, he glowered at Naruto. "Fine."

And just like that, Naruto punched a fist into the air, whooping like like he'd just stumbled across a treasure hoard as he danced in the street. _Idiot_.

"Awesome. Okay, so we're meeting up right now, so let's _go._ Sakura-chan said she'd meet us there and-" And on and on he jabbered, filling the silence as they walked.

000

The rest of the teens had already picked a table by the time they got there, but Sasuke already felt something was off. Something was missing...

Sakura. Where was Sakura.

Narrowing his eyes, he craned his neck to scan the restaurant for pink hair, brows furrowing when he came up empty handed.

He caught gazes with Naruto, who appeared to have just come to the same conclusion. "Hey, where's Sakura-chan?" the blond piped, causing most of the conversation to die out.

"Ino's not here either," Shikamaru answered easily, chin nestled in his palm. "Troublesome women..."

Sasuke frowned, thoughtful, catching Naruto's eyes a second time and seeing his own questions reflected back at him.

000

 **A/N: Again, any critiques on anything, characters, flow, grammar, are all encouraged. Tell me whatcha think!**


	4. Chapter 3: Maybe?

**A/N: Sorry for yet /another/ slow going chapter, but I'm trying to get the setting, Sakura and Sasuke's I'm trying to get a handle on both their characters. This chapter kinda explains where Sakura's at at this point. I don't want to ignore other characters, but I definitely like writing Sakura and Sasuke one on one, so tell me which you prefer, even if it's both or a balance of the two. I do want to get some more angsty seriousness instead of just entirely awkward, I just hope you can be patient with me. ;) But yeah, tell my anything if you want to see it. I can't promise you anything, but it can help. ;)**

 **Anyways, enjoy. I'm thinking we'll address some beginnings of an idea for Sasuke's punishment in the next chapter, hopefully. XD I kinda write by the seat of my pants.**

 **Dislaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto and he alone, ne?**

 **000**

Chapter 3

 _i wanted to be tall_

000

"WHAT!?" Ino screeched, her blue pupil-less eyes boring into Sakura's green ones, making the pink-haired girl wince under the force of it.

"A little louder, pig; I don't think Amegakure heard you," Sakura hissed, resisting the urge to smack her childhood friend over the head.

"Sorry, I just... _What_?" she repeated, quieter but no less fervent.

"You heard me." Sakura might as well have been pouting, crossing her arms and leaning away, her eyebrows lowered and her lips puckered. "I don't need to repeat myself."

"Hell no you don't! I don't _need_ it to be said twice in order for me to remember that _Uchiha_ _freaking_ _Sasuke_ has already asked you out on _multiple_ dates!" Ino emphasized her words by leaning forward on the sofa and jerking her arms around when she got to Sasuke's name.

"They weren't _dates_ , pig," Sakura near spatted. She really hoped they weren't. That would just... confuse her even more. She didn't know what to do with herself as it was.

"He took you out to eat _multiple_ times! _Just_ _the_ _two_ _of_ _you_. In what universe does that _not_ sound like a date?" It was Ino's turn to cross her arms, her right brow ticking up in skepticism.

"Naruto has taken me out to eat at Ichiraku's hundreds of times," Sakura shot back.

"Yeah, but that's _Naruto_. You know how many people he's probably gone to Ichiraku's with? This is _Sasuke_. How many people have seen him eat with one on one?"

Zero, Sakura was pretty sure. She sighed and wilted into her couch cushions, bringing up a hand to massage her forehead. "I don't know..."

Ino mimicked her sigh and Sakura felt the plush shift beside her.

"I'm sorry, I got a bit carried away. How are _you_ feeling about this?"

Sakura pursed her lips and shook her head, letting her hand flop into her lap. "I don't know, Ino... I just..." She paused to bite her lip.

"How do you feel about him?" the Yamanaka prompted, voice far more gentle now.

"I-I... I don't know! I said I forgave him and I thought I did, but... It's not like I hold what he did against him, but he's still _Sasuke_. He may have come back to us, but he's still _Sasuke_ , the same person who abandoned us and tried to kill Naruto and tried to kill Kakashi-sensei and tried to kill _me_ and wanted to kill all the Kages... He came back willingly, but that traitor-that _killer_ -is still a part of him, even if it's in the past, so I can't just forget that and expect him to suddenly be perfect..." Ino nodded continuously throughout her rant, eyes wide but soft and sympathetic. Sakura grimaced and silence swallowed the room for a long moment.

Ino inhaled, hesitated, and then spoke. "...Do you still love him?"

A bitter snort jerked Sakura's shoulders. "If I do, I still hate him that much more... He shot a _chidori_ through my _chest_. It may have been a genjutsu, but he obviously wanted it to feel real to me..." Ino grimaced.

"But you still _do_ love him?" She pushed, eyes expectant.

"I didn't say-"

"But you didn't say you _didn't_ , either."

Sakura slumped back, resigned, and stared at the ceiling. She heard Ino sigh again next to her and Sakura resisted doing the same. It was too complicated. Her brain felt like scrambled eggs.

"Just be careful, Sakura." Sakura didn't miss the warning in her voice. Remaining impassive, she looked to Ino through the corner of her eye, head still facing up.

"I know," she mumbled.

"I mean it... I don't mean to be forward-" _Ha_ , Sakura thought. "-but you've been chasing after him for so long and all he's done in the past is break your heart and stomp all over the pieces. I'm not saying he can't change, just... be careful, okay?"

Sakura turned to face her closest confidant and forced the intensity she felt into her expression, locking gazes.

"I promise. I'm different now. Whatever this is, it definitely won't be like last time."

Ino's lips quirked up at the corners and the atmosphere immediately lightened, tension leaking out of Sakura's limbs like a faucet. It felt good to get some of that out of her system.

"Now that we got that out of the way, we should totally doll you up for tonight!" Ino squealed, clasping her hands in front of her face excitedly.

"What!? _No_! It's a _group_ activity, pig." She shoved her friend backwards, ignoring the way she squeaked when she nearly tumbled off the sofa. "Even if it wasn't, we're still not sure if they were even dates-"

"Pfft," Ino scoffed as she stood to her feet, hands on her hips. " _I'm_ sure they were. Don't know who you mean by 'we-" She suddenly stiffened, arms falling to her sides and eyes going wide. Sakura jumped to her feet, alarmed.

"What is it?"

"We're late," she murmured.

Sakura paused. "...What?"

"We're late! We're late, we're late, _we're_ _so_ _late_!" Ino fumbled with herself, finally turning towards Sakura. "For the get together tonight; we're _late_!"

Oh.

"Oh."

Ino raised her eyebrows. Sakura blinked.

"Oh! The get together! Right!"

000

Yakiniku Q bustled with its evening crowd, creating a coziness emphasized by the yellow lanterns and friendly chatter throughout its entirety. It set Sakura at ease immediately and soothed her mind like cool water on fevered skin. Ino pattered behind her, hands ushering her forward whenever she faltered. Sakura found it both comforting and irritating, but she kept her more-pink-than-usual lips pressed together as they navigated towards the back room (where a table big enough to accommodate them all would be) where their friends were probably waiting for them.

"Don't worry; you look amazing," Ino hissed in her ear as they approached. Despite Sakura's obvious decline to being 'dolled up', Ino had her way in the end, as usual. But they met at a happy medium; subtle beauty. Surprisingly, Ino said Sakura already had that but they were just going to increase that subtle beauty by a fraction. Light mascara, a natural shade of lipstick, a splash of blush to accent her pink hair, modest green jewelry to bring out her eyes and a last touch of Ino's fragrant lotion on her hands and neck instead of full blown perfume, which may have been too obvious.

After some fussing from Sakura, Ino assured her that the ones who would probably notice the changes (Shikamaru or Shino) would most likely be the same ones to keep it to themselves. The biggest worry was Lee, but he was always complimenting her appearance so it shouldn't be a big deal.

"Chin up. It's just a friendly gathering," came Ino's voice again. "Here we go." And then they popped into the doorway for all of Konoha 11 to see.

"Hey!" Ino greeted, smile in place as she scampered off to one of the empty spaces, leaving the last empty spot for Sakura right next to Naruto... and Sasuke. "Sorry we're late!" Shikamaru mumbled something about the troubles of women as Sakura gathered her resolve, smiling at her teammates while taking a seat.

"You're just as bad as Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan," Naruto complained, even while his eyes portrayed their usual warmth.

Sakura huffed a laugh, elbowing her orange-clad teammate in the ribs. "I'm not _that_ bad." Sai smiled at her from Naruto's other side.

"You were exactly twenty-two minutes and forty-seven seconds late, Sakura, barely one-fourth of Kakashi-senpai's usua-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's eat already! I'm _starving_!" Naruto huffed, tapping his tongs on the table while eying the heated grill as Sai began listing the symptoms of starvation, most likely to conclude with the fact that Naruto was most certainly _not_ starving.

Sakura kept her gaze forward as they went around the table ordering, cursing herself for not being more relaxed. She didn't know how to act around Sasuke, but that didn't mean she had to practically _shun_ him. Biting her lip and stealing herself, she angled herself to look at Sasuke, thankful he hadn't ordered yet.

"So what are you having?" she asked, forcing a casual smile to her face.

Sasuke flicked his gaze up to her's, Rinnegan throwing her off once again (she really had to get used to that) with its startling design. His gaze searched her's for a moment before flattening. "I'm not hungry."

Sakura swallowed and fought the urge to roll her eyes, nodding her head instead. "Maybe you can help me, then," she piped. "I'm not that hungry either, but I'm torn between the _Dak_ _Bulgogi_ or just a small _Namul_."

He stared once again, the shadows under his eyes only just becoming apparent to Sakura, then the way his face was slightly more angular than usual. She furrowed her eyebrows a fraction but it must've been enough for Sasuke to notice because his eyes narrowed on the movement.

"Does it matter?" he monotoned.

Sakura tilted her head. "Does what matter?"

A beat. "What you order."

"Oh, right," she puffed, a nervous laugh to try and diffuse the awkward. But when did that ever actually work? "Um, I might just have a glass of water..."

"...Hn."

000

 **A/N: I really don't know a thing about Korean food, I just looked up that barbecue restaurant in Naruto and it said it served Korean food and so I just did a quick Google search. XD I'm really sorry these are so freaking short; writing on an iPod is harder than it looks, but I'll try to extend them!**

 **Again, critiques on character, flow and grammar are all welcomed! :) And maybe tell me what your favorite thing to see in a SasuSaku fic is while you're at it. ;)**


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